BlueSilkenSky
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Hi. 
This is an essay I wrote for the last few days of school, and my teacher said it's one of the best ninth grade essays she's ever read. So I thought I'd share it, see what others think.
These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends…"
Casual listeners of the radio might find no significance in the following lines from U2's With or Without You. "With or without you… with or without you, my love. I can't live with or without you…" The very idea of not being able to live with someone or without the same person sounds ludicrous. However, when put in the sense of a paradox- a contradiction that is true- the lyrics begin to make some sort of sense. Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossed lovers in Shakespeare's play of the same name, demonstrate this tortured love almost perfectly. In the play Romeo And Juliet, William Shakespeare uses paradoxes to show the complexities of love and hate.
Before Juliet, the character Romeo uses paradoxes to explain how feels torn apart by his love for Rosaline. He enters on the scene moaning and groaning over his situation, and Benvolio remarks, "Alas that love, so gentle in his view, should be so tyrannous and rough in proof." (776) An evil love is something incomprehensible, for love is always good. Yet when Romeo's situation is taken into account- in love with a girl he cannot have- the love that seems sweet as honey does indeed become something loathsome. After seeing that a brawl has occurred in the streets, Romeo declares, "Here's much to do with hate, but more with love." (776) The Montagues and Capulets have been fighting again, less for their hatred of each other than for their love of the fight. Once again, the paradox of hate and love existing in the same argumentative motive proves that love can be cruel. It injures people when they fight out of loving to hate, instead of the hate itself. Romeo then spews off a long string of paradoxes designed to explain his miserable situation with Rosaline, ending by saying that "This love feel I, that feel no love in this." (777) How is it possible to be in love and out of love at the same time? Just ask Romeo- while he is infatuated with Rosaline, it also pains him deeply that she cannot reciprocate his love. He loves her, but does not love that he loves her. The paradox rings true.
Romeo and Juliet's relationship as married enemies is in itself a paradox, and best represented in the prologue. The play begins with a "chorus" describing what is to happen in the performance. Shakespeare writes, "From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their lives." (771) The phrase "fatal loins" is a two way paradox: fatal meaning deadly, loins representing giving birth, thus having a death in life- an impossibility! These star-crossed lovers are born from fatal loins, taking their life from warring families. Yet fatal loins could have also referred to a deadly lust, in which loins represents sex. Romeo and Juliet both took their own lives for the deadly lust they faced, which required that neither one live without the other. Continuing through the prologue, it is noted that the chorus makes mention of "the fearful passage of their death-marked love." (771) Love should be all about life and creating life, and definitely should not be something to be afraid of. This paradox was true, for it was because Romeo and Juliet fell in love that the list of casualties suffered throughout the play occurred. Their love ended in the destruction of themselves, making it truly marked with death. Furthermore, Shakespeare goes as far as to state about the feud between families, "but their children's death naught could remove." (771) The end of the feud was supposed to be joyful, because the families had reconciled. If Romeo and Juliet had waited longer and gently broke the news to their parents that they were married, perhaps there would have been a peaceful end to the disagreement. However, because the families decided to make up after their children had died, the event became a paradox- a celebration of the feud's end, but also a mourning over the lost members of their families.
Throughout the entire play of Romeo And Juliet, Shakespeare repeats one specific paradox- that Juliet will marry her grave if she cannot marry Romeo. The first time Shakespeare mentions this is when Romeo is leaving the party, and Juliet instructs the Nurse to inquire about him. "Go ask his name- if he is married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed," she sighs. (791) A wedding bed is something of joy, of making new life with love. To equate a grave to one is contradictory, for a grave is a place of sadness where the dead lie. Juliet was ready by this point to prove her love for Romeo by lying in a grave when she should have been lying in a wedding bed. Lady Capulet later picks up the paradox when Juliet refuses to marry the County Paris, stating angrily to her husband that "I would the fool were married to her grave." (838) Not only is this a harsh wish for a mother, but it reflects that Juliet would rather die than give her love to someone else. The paradox remains true, and Juliet remains true to her word when she drinks a potion that sends her to the brink of death. Her grief-ridden parents despair over Juliet's body and amidst their cries, Lord Capulet gasps, "[…] The night before thy wedding day hath Death lain with thy wife. There she lies, flower as she was, deflowered by him. Death is my son-in-law, Death is my heir…" (854) Juliet is not completely dead, of course, but her comatose state so closely resembles it that suicide is nearly accurate. Death is personified here in an extension of the paradox from earlier, in which Juliet decided she was more in love with death than Paris. Loving something that causes no love to be felt is Shakespeare's use of the paradox at its finest.
William Shakespeare uses paradoxes in his play Romeo And Juliet to show how both love and hate can be complex and have many layers. The Capulets and Montagues are feuding for their love of hating each other. Romeo hates his love for Rosaline, and later gets caught up in a love that ends with his demise. Juliet, feeling nothing for Paris, would rather marry her grave than him. The use of a paradox shows that love and hate can coexist in mysterious ways, warping the heart. Even today, love and hate have their varied uses. Many adults have had their share of crushes that were never reciprocated. Argumentative children will not give up their fight because they enjoy driving their parents crazy. And of course, every teenager has said at one point, "I'd rather die" or "I want to kill myself"; however, to the best of anyone's knowledge they are still living. What of Juliet and Romeo's love- the forbidden impossibility of living with or without someone? That adoration shows up in every partner that a family did not approve of, with reasons ranging from whether he or she is a good influence to which gender he or she is in relation to the family member who loves him or her. Paradoxes, though subtle, live on today and are best exemplified over affairs of love and hate.
This is an essay I wrote for the last few days of school, and my teacher said it's one of the best ninth grade essays she's ever read. So I thought I'd share it, see what others think.These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends…"
Casual listeners of the radio might find no significance in the following lines from U2's With or Without You. "With or without you… with or without you, my love. I can't live with or without you…" The very idea of not being able to live with someone or without the same person sounds ludicrous. However, when put in the sense of a paradox- a contradiction that is true- the lyrics begin to make some sort of sense. Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossed lovers in Shakespeare's play of the same name, demonstrate this tortured love almost perfectly. In the play Romeo And Juliet, William Shakespeare uses paradoxes to show the complexities of love and hate.
Before Juliet, the character Romeo uses paradoxes to explain how feels torn apart by his love for Rosaline. He enters on the scene moaning and groaning over his situation, and Benvolio remarks, "Alas that love, so gentle in his view, should be so tyrannous and rough in proof." (776) An evil love is something incomprehensible, for love is always good. Yet when Romeo's situation is taken into account- in love with a girl he cannot have- the love that seems sweet as honey does indeed become something loathsome. After seeing that a brawl has occurred in the streets, Romeo declares, "Here's much to do with hate, but more with love." (776) The Montagues and Capulets have been fighting again, less for their hatred of each other than for their love of the fight. Once again, the paradox of hate and love existing in the same argumentative motive proves that love can be cruel. It injures people when they fight out of loving to hate, instead of the hate itself. Romeo then spews off a long string of paradoxes designed to explain his miserable situation with Rosaline, ending by saying that "This love feel I, that feel no love in this." (777) How is it possible to be in love and out of love at the same time? Just ask Romeo- while he is infatuated with Rosaline, it also pains him deeply that she cannot reciprocate his love. He loves her, but does not love that he loves her. The paradox rings true.
Romeo and Juliet's relationship as married enemies is in itself a paradox, and best represented in the prologue. The play begins with a "chorus" describing what is to happen in the performance. Shakespeare writes, "From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their lives." (771) The phrase "fatal loins" is a two way paradox: fatal meaning deadly, loins representing giving birth, thus having a death in life- an impossibility! These star-crossed lovers are born from fatal loins, taking their life from warring families. Yet fatal loins could have also referred to a deadly lust, in which loins represents sex. Romeo and Juliet both took their own lives for the deadly lust they faced, which required that neither one live without the other. Continuing through the prologue, it is noted that the chorus makes mention of "the fearful passage of their death-marked love." (771) Love should be all about life and creating life, and definitely should not be something to be afraid of. This paradox was true, for it was because Romeo and Juliet fell in love that the list of casualties suffered throughout the play occurred. Their love ended in the destruction of themselves, making it truly marked with death. Furthermore, Shakespeare goes as far as to state about the feud between families, "but their children's death naught could remove." (771) The end of the feud was supposed to be joyful, because the families had reconciled. If Romeo and Juliet had waited longer and gently broke the news to their parents that they were married, perhaps there would have been a peaceful end to the disagreement. However, because the families decided to make up after their children had died, the event became a paradox- a celebration of the feud's end, but also a mourning over the lost members of their families.
Throughout the entire play of Romeo And Juliet, Shakespeare repeats one specific paradox- that Juliet will marry her grave if she cannot marry Romeo. The first time Shakespeare mentions this is when Romeo is leaving the party, and Juliet instructs the Nurse to inquire about him. "Go ask his name- if he is married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed," she sighs. (791) A wedding bed is something of joy, of making new life with love. To equate a grave to one is contradictory, for a grave is a place of sadness where the dead lie. Juliet was ready by this point to prove her love for Romeo by lying in a grave when she should have been lying in a wedding bed. Lady Capulet later picks up the paradox when Juliet refuses to marry the County Paris, stating angrily to her husband that "I would the fool were married to her grave." (838) Not only is this a harsh wish for a mother, but it reflects that Juliet would rather die than give her love to someone else. The paradox remains true, and Juliet remains true to her word when she drinks a potion that sends her to the brink of death. Her grief-ridden parents despair over Juliet's body and amidst their cries, Lord Capulet gasps, "[…] The night before thy wedding day hath Death lain with thy wife. There she lies, flower as she was, deflowered by him. Death is my son-in-law, Death is my heir…" (854) Juliet is not completely dead, of course, but her comatose state so closely resembles it that suicide is nearly accurate. Death is personified here in an extension of the paradox from earlier, in which Juliet decided she was more in love with death than Paris. Loving something that causes no love to be felt is Shakespeare's use of the paradox at its finest.
William Shakespeare uses paradoxes in his play Romeo And Juliet to show how both love and hate can be complex and have many layers. The Capulets and Montagues are feuding for their love of hating each other. Romeo hates his love for Rosaline, and later gets caught up in a love that ends with his demise. Juliet, feeling nothing for Paris, would rather marry her grave than him. The use of a paradox shows that love and hate can coexist in mysterious ways, warping the heart. Even today, love and hate have their varied uses. Many adults have had their share of crushes that were never reciprocated. Argumentative children will not give up their fight because they enjoy driving their parents crazy. And of course, every teenager has said at one point, "I'd rather die" or "I want to kill myself"; however, to the best of anyone's knowledge they are still living. What of Juliet and Romeo's love- the forbidden impossibility of living with or without someone? That adoration shows up in every partner that a family did not approve of, with reasons ranging from whether he or she is a good influence to which gender he or she is in relation to the family member who loves him or her. Paradoxes, though subtle, live on today and are best exemplified over affairs of love and hate.
